Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0

If Arsene Wenger was looking for a memorable 1000th game in charge of Arsenal then Chelsea certainly gave him a game to remember, slamming six goals past his hapless Gunners.

Team News - For this fixture Jose Mourinho was forced to shuffle his starting eleven. With Ramires and Willian both suspended having picked up red-cards against Aston Villa last weekend, there were recalls for a fit again David Luiz in a holding role, whilst Andre Schurrle replaced Willian.

With Arsene Wenger celebrating his 1000th game in charge of Arsenal, any animosity between the two managers was temporarily put to one side when Jose embraced Arsene with a warm handshake before the match kicked off.

First Half - Arsenal started brightly, winning possession as Chelsea tried to get moves going, but the first shot of the game saw Giroud hammer an effort against a team-mate. Giroud then, from a ball in from Rosicky, forced Cech to produce a smart save. From the counter attack Chelsea were to take the lead through Samuel Eto`o

The goal came after Hazard and Eto`o found themselves two-on-two with the Arsenal back line and the striker cut inside Oxlade-Chamberlain to bend a wonderful shot into the net with just five minutes on the clock.

Two minutes later Chelsea doubled their lead when Andre Schurrle netted. The German took the opportunity to take advantage of the space he found himself in to drive home a shot from just outside the box.

Having opened the scoring the game was to finish early for Eto`o when he looked to have picked up a hamstring injury and was replaced by Fernando Torres.

Matters got worse for Arsenal just before the fifteen minute mark when they conceded a penalty when Oxlade Chamberlain stopped an effort from Hazard with his hand, but strangely enough it was Kieron Gibb who was shown a red-car. The shooting opportunity had come after a through ball from Torres had presented the Belgian with the scoring opportunity.

Eden Hazard stepped up and took the opportunity to make it 3-0 from the penalty spot calmly slotting home straight down the middle.

Arsene Wenger, on the back of the red card, pulled off Podolski and introduced Vermaelen, to try and stem the flow. But the shocking decision made by Andre Marriner in sending off the wrong player will remain the major talking point of that extraordinary first twenty minute blitz.

On the half hour mark Chelsea almost scored fourth when David Luiz surged forward, from midfield, before seeing Szczesny tip his shot around the post. Arsenal, courtesy of that early goal blitz; were looking shell-shocked. But matters were to get worse for Arsene and his boys when Oscar made it 4-0.

The goal coming after Torres had beaten Mertesacker for pace and squared the ball, invitingly, for Oscar to smash it into the net. Arsenal were being caught out time and time again by our counter-attacking football. The half ended with Cech forced into a save to deny Rosicky from getting Arsenal on the score-sheet.

Not surprisingly, Chelsea left the field of play at half time to a thunderous ovation.

Second Half - Arsene Wenger made two more changes at half-time introducing Flamini and Jenkinson for Koscielny and Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Chelsea started the half where they`d left off, looking for goals. Torres produced a marvellous run only to see Mertesacker block his shot before Luiz saw his follow-up shot parried by the keeper, Szczesny.

The first yellow card of the game saw Rosicky go into the book for a poor lunge on Azpilicueta. Four goals to the good, Chelsea were content in allowing Arsenal large chunks of possession. One slice of possession saw Cazorla unleash a shot that went just wide of the far post.

Chelsea responded by launching a decent attack down the right which saw Torres pick out Oscar and the Brazilians resulting shot was tipped over the bar by Szczesny. Respite for Arsenal was short-lived though with Oscar getting his second of the game to make it 5-0.

The goal, in the 66th minute came about after Arsenal lost possession just outside the area allowing Oscar to bend a shot around Flamini which Szcznesy could only push into the net. The goal was Oscar`s last contribution with Mohamed Salah coming on in his place almost immediately and the substitute had an immediate effect making it 6-0.

The goal came Salah used his devastating pace to beat a clumsy offside trap and roll the ball past Szcznesy in the Arsenal goal for his first goal for Chelsea. With the game more than wrapped up, Mikel was brought on in place of David Luiz and Chelsea appeared to take their foot off the pedal.

There was still time, however, for Schurrle to flash a long range shot just past the post. Arsenal, as the end of the game drew nearer, pushed for a consolation goal but it wasn`t to be.

Let us no hope that Liverpool and City drop points to give us some breathing space up top. BTW the incident regarding Kieran Gibbls sending of is another testament to what HGH and myself were saying a few days back as to why the use of a video replay ref for pro footie is long overdue. This is long overdue..the only person seemingly did not know who handled the ball in the box was the one person who needed to be in the know; namely the center ref.

after our slip up against villa we need to win all 7 of our remaining game to win the league. or maybe 6 wins and a draw. we just have to hope that arsenal/united/everton/livepool take points off City. I reckon Livepool will not so sure about the others. Come on United! Lol

Such a sweet win.. This is pure happiness! It would've been better if Eto'o wasn't injured but I hope we can get him back for the PSG game 11 days from now. His first goal was so important and then he made the run to distract the defense for the second goal. Some members where talking about how having a world class striker would help the team next season. Well, Eto'o seems to be adapting to the EPL and to the team finally and this is what having a quality striker does for you. You get a chance, you get the goal, release the pressure on the team and it changes the entire game. This season has been much much better than what I wouldn've expected and now we have an outside chance of stealing the BPL! Hoping City to lose points soon! KTBFFH

Arsenal was never a threat to us. But very happy for the spanking as it proves the deluded Arsenal fans that Mourinho was right: "SPECIALIST IN FAILURE". On the other hand, some players are picking up form to help our remaining cause this season - Challenging for the UCL and the PL.....Oscar, Luiz and Schurrle returning to form at the right time to help us in the PL and UCL. Hopefully, with the red card, Ramires will come back strong as we'll need better passing from him and return to form to challenge in the UCL and PL. Only person still out of form (or never in form) is Torres, but hopefully he gets motivated and hopefully surprises us against PSG away since Eto might miss the match..........Also need City to drop points. Where is City playing their 4 games in hand?

@Keyser Soze,I wasn't on earlier because I've just sat down at Gatwick,
waiting for a flight after being at the game.I'm a Chelsea fan through and
through and have been at most of the games this season,home and away.
Just because I have a different opinion about some things than you,doesn't
mean your right.

Well, isn't it amazing that you allow his comment to stay and delete mine... what is the rationale for that?... I agree that's not what the comment section is for but you never caution him when he goes wayward and yet expect no response...

Eh if you said it out loud I can repeat exactly what you, you on the other hand are not aloud to attack me with insults if all I did was simply quote you. You do remember what a bother you were and how unberable you and your buddies were through any rough patches in the season early on right? So leave me alone if you have nothing constructive to say.

You didn't complain on vc when we where poor at the begining of the season does not make you a better fan, you can't teach me how to support my team. I have no apologies to you or anyone else for what I said.

Liverpool are in a good momentum. They are leading now. Hope Cardiff can at least draw this match. Not very optimistic though. City are definitely winning today. City play Manure and Arse away in the next 2. If they win those 2, I think they will eventually win the league. They also have Liverpool away I guess. But it seems Jose was right they are the favorite.

as i had said before schrulle deserve more chance than willian...its pity that jose choose willian.....but schrulle is the one who is far far better than willian...he provide goals and his direct run cause a lot of problem.to the opposition....he is our second striker with clinical finish...i hope jose play luiz matic pivot for the rest of the season..thats the best pivot we have at present...luiz was fantastic he is what we needed to partner matic...and i dont mind if FA charges ramires and ban him for the rest of the season....because jose will pick him again no matter how good luiz matic plays....we played brilliantly...fantastic result..

I will say again if it wasn't for Schurrle's unfortunate injury early on I think he would have been stapled to the first 11 at this point. Willian's chance came when Schurrle got injured. This game Schurrle showed he can be well rounded and be a all around midfielder not only shadow striker.

What I like about Hazard and Schurrle together is if the team decides to over crowd Hazard they will be attacked by Schurrle's runs, and vice versa if they put too much focus on Schurrle's runs it gives Hazard space. All the possession in the world doesn't make a difference if we don't even create that many chances.

Surely Fulham is getting relegated. Cardiff deserve to be relegated as well. when you are in a relegation battle and you score first at home, manage to score 3 goals and still lose then you have only yourself to blame. The defending on some of the goals Liverpool scored today was shambolic to put it mildly. In on Courtinhios cross into the 6 yard box has 6 Cardiff defenders in the vicinity..there is only one Liverpool player there..a B skertel and yet they watch like the idiots they are as he streaks in and pokes the ball home. With that sort of attitude when you are supposedly fighting for survival that side needs to be relegated pronto and put out of their misery.

No doubt this is our best pivot for these kind of games,not for the ones that our opponent sits back,I think it will be fair enough to move luiz to the midfield permanently next season and get a CM while mikel moves on,then if Lamps leave,we can get a player like kroos/Barkley for the pivot...Good game today,everyone was perfect on the pitch

Eto'o needed time to adapt to the EPL, he is ready now and is showing it on the pitch. He will only get better and better cos he still have class in him. He will be a beast for us next season if he stays.

It will be hard to sell Torres Cos we will lose lots of money on him as Inter won't pay 50m for him which will badly affect our FFP standing. I think Torres will see out his contract with us, Eto'o may be given a year extension and we will replace Back with a world class Forward like Costa. Lukaku is likely to go on loan again as he is not the type that will want to be 3rd choice.

Today's starting XI is our best so far this season. Matic and Luiz should be retained, our back 4 is sealed. Luiz won most of the aerial battles with his head in the middle today which was a great advantage. I hope Man U & Arse do us a favour against City. Our remaining 7 games are winnable with liverpool the only top team in the mix. We need to approach every game as if it were a cup final from now on #KTBFFVH#####

Torres is on 150k a week,I know it will be difficult to get rid of torres but in a mouthwatering swap deal involving torres and good cash for the new striker might just tempt the new club to take him and tempt him to reduce is wage demands a little,we can also get rid of torres the way city got rid of adebayor,or probably send him out on loan...I think its high time we accept that the 50m pounds wasn't well spent and move on...I wouldn't want to see torres at chelsea next season,then for lukaku if he doesn't want to come compete with eto'o and the new striker then it is better we sell him because he will never be a top player with that kind of attitude,for you to be the best in your position,you have to train with and compete against top and quality players in that same position because it will be a good learning process but I don't think lukaku is that kind of person,so I expect him with us next season working hard with and competing with eto'o and a new striker for the striking shirt...

Torres is on 150k a week,I know it will be difficult to get rid of torres but in a mouthwatering swap deal involving torres and good cash for the new striker might just tempt the new club to take him and tempt him to reduce is wage demands a little,we can also get rid of torres the way city got rid of adebayor,or probably send him out on loan...I think its high time we accept that the 50m pounds wasn't well spent and move on...I wouldn't want to see torres at chelsea next season,then for lukaku if he doesn't want to come compete with eto'o and the new striker then it is better we sell him because he will never be a top player with that kind of attitude,for you to be the best in your position,you have to train with and compete against top and quality players in that same position because it will be a good learning process but I don't think lukaku is that kind of person,so I expect him with us next season working hard with and competing with eto'o and a new striker for the striking shirt...

Excellent job by the lads and crew..good to see roman clapping and smiling again, we now know who rules london....The only negative thing about this result is it makes me lose hope that arsenal can nick point off citeh..Now i'll be praying for atleast two miserable outings for citeh and one for liverpool before we meet in april.....longlive the roman army.

That pass from Matic to Salah for the 6th was crazy, exactly what we have been longing to see from our pivot players for a long time now... The Matic-Luiz combo is certainly world class, they have dominated 2 very good teams(City and Arsenal) now, really wish Liuz will stay there but it seems Brazil like him at CB, it won't be fair to him if Jose permanently converts him to a CDM.

@ sameX does it matter where he plays for brazil? The club will do what's best for them, Guardiola converted Lahm to a CDM without considering where he plays for Germany and even Barcelona converted Mascherano to a CB when he plays as a CDM for argetina,I think the best thing chelsea have to do is for us to see more of Luiz in midfield,thank God he can play as a CB his versatility will only help us

I just hate when people mention liverpool when we talk about title contenders,sadly they have refused to slip up and they are still in the mix, it doesn't look like they will slip up against the smaller teams because of their dangerous attack,the only hope here is that they loose their big game against city and us...I can take anyone else winning the league but not liverpool

The fact ive been stating again n again. luiz matic is much better than ramires matic:
An article on skysports;
the Matic-David Luiz axis proved to be a decisive factor again in the destruction of Arsenal. While Luiz made the second-highest number of tackles on the pitch, Matic was crucial in winning the ball back on two occasions in the build-up to Chelsea goals. He recorded two assists and created the highest number of shooting chances for team-mates (four),
I hope mourinho sticks with matic luiz in the premier league !!

Am just soooooooooo happy. Arsenal fans are very stubborn by not accepting that we are better than them so that thrashing was a real eye opener. Immediately we scored the second goal, the arsenal fans in the same viewing center as I was left holding their heads in shame..... Just imagine being beaten within the first 7 minutes, that's arsenal for you. With the SPECIAL ONE anything is possible.....KTBFFH;)

I thought I said on here how I don't see arsenal as a problem and that our match against them is a sure wager for any newbie looking to get into the betting game. If liverpool that usually get trounced by arsenal could beat them mercilessly do you ever think they had a chance against us?? Eto'o continues to prove how much we have been on a controlled damage with torres. And shurlle keeps improving and adapting to the league as well as eto'o. I really do hope oscar has found his form back as did towards the end of last season and finally with the combination of luiz-Matic which took citeh's midfield to the cleaners, arsenal were never going to see the light of day in the middle of the park. #Ktbffh #Upthechels #Foreverblue #Prideoflondon&England

Really,elated with this performance! When reading the prematch thread I obeserved everyone was predicting a one goal or two goal margin at worst,and none predicted that we won't have conceded,so like me I beleive no one expected it would have been this good. While it was a sweet victory for us,I really began to feel sorry for Arsenal after the penalty,we just smashed their party into bits.....lol.

We,I for one surely,would miss seeing Matic play for us in the UCL,so much for some here claiming he's 'a left-footed Mikel'.We really need his help against teams like PSG,and maybe other teams we might meet like BM,RM or Barca.So sad for me.This pivot is definitely our best performing to be honest.Did we notice how Luiz and Matic are slowly learning to spray passes out wide,looped passes over the opposition's defence,and through balls for Shurrle and Hazard and Torres.They did play some annoyingly backward passes though,but I guess it was to recycle posession and make the Gunners come out of their half a bit to open them up

And yeah,Shurrle plays out wide but has the 'cold-blooded' finishing of a clinical striker.7 goals this season,for a bit part player who has started less games than a player like Willian, that is a good stat.Great to finally see Oscar back on the scoresheet,and twice for a treat.Hope Man city draws with Liverpool and draws or looses another or two,and we win Liverpool.But winning our other remaining games,while a tall order,is not impossible.

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